A farewell from Simon

I've had the pleasure of working for Hoipolloi for nearly eight years and was thrilled when I stepped up to become the company's Executive Producer in 2011. But now it's time for me to undertake some brand new adventures and I'll be leaving Hoipolloi on 21 December.

I started as the company's first full-time Marketing & Touring Manager in January 2005 and one of my first tasks was to book a tour for Floating, the first Hugh Hughes show. Little did I (or indeed anyone else!) know that we'd go on to take Hugh and his friends all across the world, win four awards and help share his work beyond the stage online, on radio and on film.

Following Hoipolloi's successful application to join the Arts Council's national funding portfolio in April 2012, the company has been able to expand its staffing resources and I know that I'll be leaving things in very capable hands. I also wanted to make sure that Stories from an Invisible Town was happily on its feet before I left (which it is) - please don't forget that you can still catch the piece in Plymouth until Saturday and from next week at London's Barbican Centre (oh, and of course, online whenever you wish at www.invisibletownstories.co.uk).

There are also lots of exciting things on the horizon! A new Hugh Hughes radio drama will be broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on 5 December, there is plenty more online activity to come and also an announcement of a fantastic new live show will be made in the New Year. I'm certainly very sad not to be able to play a part in that and when you hear about it, I'm sure you'll understand why!

And what about my own plans? Well, I've decided to follow Hugh's advice and think carefully about how I can "change my perspective". In January I'll be heading off to Australia for a little while to discover more about their cultural scene - I'm intending to hop from festival to festival and then after that, we'll see what happens.

Our audiences (and their delight in our work) has been a huge part of why I've enjoyed working with Hoipolloi so much and I'll greatly miss thinking about what intriguing offerings can be created for you. Thank you for continuing to support Hoipolloi and Hugh Hughes and making my time here so wonderful. 

Simon Bedford, Hoipolloi's Executive Producer